SCHOOLS OF
TO-MORROW
BY
JOHN DEWEY
AND
EVELYN DEWEY
NEW YORK
E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY
681 FIFTH AVENUE
Copyright, 1915
BY
E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY
- First Printing, May, 1915.
- Second Printing, August, 1915.
- Third Printing, March, 1916.
- Fourth Printing, March, 1916.
- Fifth Printing, July, 1916.
- Sixth Printing, July, 1916.
- Seventh Printing, Jan’y, 1917.
- Eighth Printing, Jan’y, 1917.
- Ninth Printing, April, 1919.
The Knickerbocker Press, New York
PREFACE
There has been no attempt in this book todevelop a complete theory of education nor yetreview any “systems” or discuss the views ofprominent educators. This is not a text bookof education, nor yet an exposition of a newmethod of school teaching, aimed to show theweary teacher or the discontented parent howeducation should be carried on. We have triedto show what actually happens when schoolsstart out to put into practice, each in its ownway, some of the theories that have been pointedto as the soundest and best ever since Plato, tobe then laid politely away as precious portionsof our “intellectual heritage.” Certain viewsare well known to every teacher who has studiedpedagogy, and portions of them form an acceptedpart of every theory of education. Yetwhen they are applied in a classroom the publicin general and other teachers in particular cryout against that classroom as a place of fadsand caprices; a place lacking in any far reachingaim or guiding principle. We have hopedto suggest to the reader the practical meaningof some of the more widely recognized and acceptedviews of educational reformers by showingwhat happens when a teacher applies theseviews.
The schools we have used for purposes ofillustration are all of them directed by sincereteachers trying earnestly to give their childrenthe best they have by working out concretelywhat they consider the fundamental principlesof education. More and more schools are growingup all over the country that are trying towork out definite educational ideas. It is thefunction of this book to point out how the applicationsarise from their theories and thedirection that education in this country seemsto be taking at the present time. We hope thatthrough the description of classroom work wemay help to make some theories living realitiesto the reader. On the other hand, we havedwelt on theoretical aspects in order to pointout some of the needs of modern education andthe way in which they are being met.
The schools that are used for illustration werechosen more